Have I Sold Out? You be the Judge.

Had to delay my run last night for a couple of hours to get the oil changed in Mrs. Dave’s van. I did not change is myself. I’ve never been afraid of getting dirty or intimidated by the auto oil change. Did it for years. Anymore, it costs more to do it than to drive into a quick-lube place and have it done. That’s where I draw the line.

Not that there was any difference between running at 5:30 instead of 4:00 yesterday. It’s been a lovely week so far around here. 72 with low humidity and sunny. This is what spring is supposed to look like.

So, then this happened: I passed three (count ‘em, folks – one, two, THREE) cyclists on the road during those four miles and every single one of them nodded as we passed. Wow. Crazy, I know. Almost goes against nature.

I’m feeling pretty good now, and happy with my June of Easy Running.

When I decided four years ago to run that marathon I’d always dreamed about, I only planned on doing one. As my training progressed and I learned how far 16-18-20 miles are when you run them all at once, I couldn’t imagine putting myself through that torture again. That paradigm lasted until I crossed the finish line. I knew I could do better. I needed to do it at least once more.

During the race, Mrs. Dave had struck up a conversation with another spectator and learned about the 50 States Marathon Club. She decided that if I was going to run another one of these, I needed to run it in another place than the first one. It may have been about then that I decided I was going to keep doing them, too. What grander adventure could there be than running a marathon in every state?

The more I thought about it, the better I liked the idea. I started thinking about how I could do it. Marathon training is hard (for me) and I can’t just crank out 26.2 every month (or every week, as if I were a make JensterNC or cheeky.runner). I figured I could do two every year – one in the spring and one in the fall - and be done when I’m 75 IF I don’t repeat any states.

The more I figured the more I considered specific marathons I wanted to run. For many of the 50 states, it wouldn’t matter – Kona would be as OSOM as Maui, there was no difference to me between Boise and Pocatello – but there were a few that made their way to the top of my list.

Boston – I naively thought this would just be a matter of running a marathon. I’ve always been a runner, so surely I could easily qualify. That dream lasted exactly 15 miles. Now I’m hoping to be able to maintain my current speed long enough for the qualifying time to make its way up to my age group. If I get into my 70’s without progress, I may go the charity route.

Disney World – The Schultz Family has always been a huge fan of Walt and his little animated friends, so I have to do WDW – heat and humidity be damned. At least it’s in January.

Seattle – Mrs. Dave is a native of the Emerald City. All the in-laws and extended relatives are there for her. Free lodging. Have to.

Surf City – Loopster-palooza and a trip to SoCal in February. What’s not to love?

New York City – New York City.

I found out about the lottery for NYCM and entered as soon as I could. Rejected for 2010. So I ran Richmond, VA instead. The next year I tried again. Rejected for 2011. Went to LoopPhest. Rejected for 2012. Went to Twin Cities for Loopfest Midwest, and looked forward to being in for 2013 under the Three Strikes You’re In policy – three lottery rejections in a row and you’re guaranteed entry.

The company I work for (Pcubed) does consulting in the field of Project and Portfolio Management. We help many companies in many different industries do what they do better (more on that in a minute). One of the contracts out of our New York office is with the New York Road Runners. Early in 2011 I was talking with our man at NYRR about how much I wanted to run NYCM. He mentioned how crazy popular it was and how they were having concerns about giving everyone who wanted to opportunity to run. He gave me the heads up that they were considering eliminating the 3 Strikes. Gulp!

I was overjoyed in 2012 to learn that it would be a phased elimination and I was in the window to still make it if I was rejected again in 2012.

Then Sandy hit NYC the week before the marathon, and there was no marathon. Suddenly everything was up in the air. Like a contestant on Survivor, I saw trouble everywhere, keeping me out of NYCM. Cancelling the entire race would surely leave no room for 3-strikers in 2013. No guarantee I’d ever get to Gotham in my marathoning lifetime.

Imagine my relief when they kept the 3 Strikes rule for this year. I’m going to New York, baby!

So, now I have to pay for it all. There’s a reason I’m cheap, folks. It’s because I don’t have any money. Getting to NYCM presents a pretty serious challenge for the family budget. But, it’s one of my dream races and Mrs. Dave (who does the finances at our house) is making it happen.

Since I came to MI in 1996 to work for this brand new, very small (5 people) consulting firm, and I’m still here, I happen to know the owner of the company fairly well. He was a 30 year-old Irish transplant with an idea that worked and I’ve been happy to help in my own small way. He ran the San Francisco marathon once on a whim – says he’ll never do another.

When I got into the race this year I asked if the apartment the company used to have downtown was still around. They had it to house out-of-town consultants working in the city and if I could stay there it would save me hotel $$. He said they’d let it go, but if I talked to HR, they were interested in sponsoring a couple of activities a year for PR purposes, and helping me with race expenses might be one of those for 2013.

You can see where this is going now I think.

I wouldn’t call myself a professional runner, but my entrance into the 2013 ING NYRR New York City Marathon is now underwritten, in part, by Pcubed, Inc.

I was hoping they’d be willing to pay my entry fee, but they’ve gone far above that and are covering my flight, hotel and a custom racing shirt (that I need to design with the company logo - someone help me!).

It was all I could do yesterday to keep my easy 4 miler from turning into 4 miles of skipping.

I was totally gonna ask if you'll need to plaster yourself in temporary tattoos!!!! That's great news and Mrs. Dave is probably particularly excited about it now too:-) I really thought it might be Rehoboth.

When I ran the AF Half Marathon I checked to see if my company had something going on since it's a sponsor of the race --- nothing. One of our biggest competitors? Shirts, a tent and a VP who was running the race.

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